Elis Beat SHU 8-2

Nov 24, 2009

O'Neill Has 3-Point Night

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Sophomore forward Brian
O'Neill had two goals and one assist and six other teammates hit
the net as the No. 11 Yale men's hockey team raced past Sacred
Heart 8-2 before 2,219 at Ingalls Rink.

Sean Backman, a senior forward who entered the game with 97
career points, had three assists to put him at triple digits, while
the Bulldogs improved to 4-2-2 with a second straight win.

This was Yale's most prolific offensive night since an 8-2 win
over Notre Dame on Jan. 27, 2001, at the New Haven Coliseum.

Yale freshman Jeff Malcolm stopped 13 of 15 shots to earn his
first collegiate win in net. He got some help from special teams at
the other end of the rink; Yale had a season-high three
man-advantage goals on seven attempts.

The Pioneers (3-7-2), led by former Yale assistant coach CJ
Marottolo, were outshot 42-15 and had just one power-play chance.

The Elis, who had two goals on their first three shots, were
four for eight midway through the opening period. O'Neill
(3rd goal) got things started just 28 seconds in with a
nasty snap shot from the right circle to make it 1-0.

"It's always nice to get a few early," said Keith Allain '80,
Yale's Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach of Hockey. "We played as hard as
we could for 60 minutes."

The Bulldogs jumped all over an attempted Sacred Heart dump-in
from center ice to make it 2-0. The puck bounced off a Yale player
and came out to Arcobello (2nd) near mid ice. He had
wings on both sides and one defender in the way. The senior forward
skated into the middle of the slot and snapped off a low shot that
hit St. Onge and bounced into the back of the net at 3:12.

Marottolo pulled St. Onge (1 save) after Arcobello's tally. His
replacement, Steven Legatto (33) did not slow the Elis until the
third period.

A pretty crossing feed from Denny Kearney to Broc Little
(8th) set up the junior winger for the perfect
one-timer, which went low into the open side at 7:30 to make it
3-0.

The score was 4-0 less than two minutes later when Antoine
Laganiere (2nd) skated across the high slot and fired a
rising wrister past Legatto at 8:56.

"We knew they played a style similar to us. Their forecheck was
like ours, something we see a lot in practice," said Yale captain
Ryan Donald. "We knew we had to set the tempo and not be
complacent. We cruised from there."

SHU got on the board when a puck came sliding out from the
boards to Nick Johnson (8) just south of the right circle. The
senior center had a relatively easy put back inside the far post at
13:41 with no defender blocking his angle.

Yale's first man-advantage goal came off the stick of O'Neill,
who found a rebound off the edge of the crease at 16:32 to regain
the four-goal lead and send the home team into intermission with a
17-6 advantage in shots.

Neither team generated many grade-A chances in the middle frame
while Yale outshot SHU 8-5 and the teams traded goals.

Evan Mladenoff (3rd) got the visitors' second goal
when he went top shelf on Malcolm at 6:29.

The Elis got it back quickly with a second power-play goal at
7:16. Josh Balch (2nd) fired a low wrister from the high
slot that bounced off the right post and into the net.

The Bulldogs pelted Legatto with rubber in the third period, but
the SHU netminder stopped 15 straight shots before the Elis found
the net again. Backman's perfect crossing feed inside the blueline
put the puck in perfect position for Tom Dignard (3rd)
to snap off a rising shot that went top shelf with under two
minutes left.

Yale captain Ryan Donald finished off the scoring with a shot
from the point that bounced off a defender and into the open side
of the net with 47.9 seconds left.

"I'm proud the way our guys played to the end. Sometimes you
lose focus when you have an early lead," said Allain. "The third
period (another 17 shots on target) may have been our best of the
game. One of the reasons our kids played so hard tonight was their
respect for CJ [Marottolo]. Most of them would not be here if not
for CJ recruiting them."

Image: Brian O'Neill had his second three-point night this
season (Sam Rubin image)